journalism writing, speechwriting, military public affairs

		*USAF Public Affairs Center of Excellence* writing	......................

to home page	news writing \| editing \| speech writing writing in general \| writing for the web \| social media see also writing handbooks/guides section on Handbooks & Guides page see also communication skills resources on the Air War College Gateway to the Internet News Writing see style guides on Handbooks & Guides page Newswriting.com Writing Tools Before You Write A Word: What You Need To Know About Your Audience And Yourself Rule One: News is a conversation. If you think you’re “broadcasting the news to the viewers”, you’ve got it wrong. You’re telling stories to one person. Rule Two: A story has to matter to you, before you can make it matter to someone else. Simply put, you’ve got to get juiced about the stuff you’re cranking out, no matter how routine the facts may seem on their face. Defense Information School Broadcast Writing Style Guide audience is DINFOS students as well as "all Department of Defense members who write and prepare broadcast news releases, features, spots, and public service announcements for military and civilian media" Tips on Writing a News Article, one-page tip sheet from Shaw AFB - includes the inverted pyramid Ten Things You Should Know About Writing Articles, Lesson #14 from English 101, Naval Safety Center Mervin Block - a broadcast writing coach and author, with tips, articles, and columns about news writing Editing Handbook of Independent Journalism, by Potter, posted at America.gov, July 2006 Chapter 4, Editing the Story - Editors need to be strong journalists and newsroom leaders Media Writer's Handbook: A Guide to Common Writing and Editing Problems Editing for Clear Communication, by Thom Lieb University of North Carolina Writing Center - handouts, including editing Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) - site map - includes handouts on argumentative writing, logic, rhetoric, plagiarism, copyright, and just about every aspect of writing - including many handouts on aspects of research and citation - EXCELLENT Poynter Online - The Seven Deadly Copy Editing Sins Arrogance Assumptions Sloppiness Indifference Ignorance Laziness Inflexibility Copyediting - because language matters - tips, articles, and a newsletter American Copy Editors Society (ACES) Center for Plain Language, ClearMark Awards for best plain language documents and web sites, and WonderMark Awards for least usable documents Speech Writing see speaking and speechwriting on Handouts/Guides page The Art of Speech writing.... COMNAVRESFOR style!, from Navy Speakers' Bureau Communication Skills resources at the Air War College Gateway to the Internet Speaking Writing Storytelling Metaphors Malapropisms, Eggcorns, Mondegreens, etc. Speechwriters' Toolbox, Pentagon Library Country Studies, Library of Congress American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, Congressional Research Service Report RL32492, 26 Feb 2010 or later Air Force Historical Studies Office Air Force Historical Research Agency Naval History & Heritage Command U.S. Army Center of Military History U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center US Marine Corps History Division The World Factbook, CIA Bartleby.com: Great Books Online DoD Speeches American Rhetoric, over 5000 text, audio, and video versions of public speeches Snopes.com urban legends pages, see if the story is a hoax before having your boss repeat it Any Day in History - what happened on it Government Documents Center, U. of Michigan The Documents Center is a central reference and referral point for information at all levels of government as well as statistical data. IPL2, merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII) Writing in General see writing handouts/guides on Handouts/Guides page see style guides on Handouts/Guides page Research, Writing, and the Mind of the Strategist (local copy), by Foster, in Joint Force Quarterly - lessons applicable to journalists as well as strategists Good writing requires practice and exposure to the good writing of others. While writing more doesn’t guarantee writing well, it improves the odds. But if one works where mediocrity is the norm, it may be impossible to tell the difference. Exposure to truly good writing, then, is the only remedy. The key to writing plain English, say its proponents, is to “write the way you talk.” This is indeed sound advice for those with a firm command of the English language. But since many of us—senior officials included—don’t always speak distinctly or cogently, more appropriate advice would be to write as we ought to talk. Writing with clarity establishes only a floor of stylistic acceptability or competence. True stylistic elegance comes from the more sophisticated use of such techniques as allusion, irony, and the nonliteral figures of speech that literary types call “tropes”: metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and the like. PlainLanguage.gov - all types of guides for writing in plain language, including for online Communication Skills resources at the Air War College Gateway to the Internet Writing Storytelling Metaphors Malapropisms, Eggcorns, Mondegreens, etc. Common Errors in English Usage, by Brians, Washington State University - indexed list Copyediting - because language matters - tips, articles, and a newsletter American Copy Editors Society (ACES) Center for Plain Language, ClearMark Awards for best plain language documents and web sites, and WonderMark Awards for least usable documents Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) - site map - includes handouts on argumentative writing, logic, rhetoric, plagiarism, copyright, and just about every aspect of writing - including many handouts on aspects of research and citation - EXCELLENT University of North Carolina Writing Center - handouts, including evaluating sources, gathering evidence, editing, and writing a book review Guide to Grammar & Writing, from the Capital Community College Foundation Exercises in Grammar, Usage and Associated Press Style, at Newsroom 101 - many examples to test yourself on, with feedback explaining right/wrong choices The Art of Storytelling (local copy), from The Army Lawyer, Oct 1999 recommends three ways to enhance your storytelling for effect use the present tense speak in clear, active English engage the senses of the audience Writing for the Web see social media and web on Handouts/Guides page Writing Spaces Web Writing Style Guide 1.0 Writing for the Web at Usability.gov Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines (13 Mb), from Usability.gov, Chapter 15 is Writing Web Content ( High Resolution, 21 Mb) Writing for the Web at PlainLanguage.gov Writing for the Web - EPA handout Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to Write for the Web, by Morkes and Nielsen Studies of how users read on the Web found that they do not actually read: instead, they scan the text. A study of five different writing styles found that a sample Web site scored 58% higher in measured usability when it was written concisely, 47% higher when the text was scannable, and 27% higher when it was written in an objective style instead of the promotional style used in the control condition and many current Web pages. Combining these three changes into a single site that was concise, scannable, and objective at the same time resulted in 124% higher measured usability. Writing for the Web, at UseIt.com Designing Websites to Maximize Press Relations: Guidelines from Usability Studies with Journalists, a Nielsen Norman Group Report Eyetracking Research How Users Read on the Web - excerpts below People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. Update: a newer study found that users read email newsletters even more abruptly than they read websites. As a result, Web pages have to employ scannable text, using highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others) meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones) bulleted lists one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph) the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion half the word count (or less) than conventional writing F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content, from Jakob Nielsen, 17 Apr 2006 Eyetracking studies mentioned in the article indicate the most common reading pattern by visitors to your website is to do a couple of left to right passes near the top and then scan down the left side of the rest of your webpage/article Two key guidelines mentioned in the article are The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. There's some hope that users will actually read this material, though they'll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second. Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice when scanning down the left side of your content in the final stem of their F-behavior. They'll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words. Writing Style for Print vs. Web Writing for New Media and Social Media Social Media: Some Things to Consider Before Creating an Online Presence, by Jonasz, in THE ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT JOURNAL, Jan-Mar 2012 Twitter Postings: Iterative Design - tips for writing for Twitter Kindle Content Design - writing for the Kindle and Kindle apps on other media

please see disclaimer about links, and privacy and security notice ... contact us
updated/reviewed 8 May 2013
FOIA
U.S. Air Force home page >> Air University >> Spaatz Center >> this center